Coming Home
by Shadow Dreamz
Summary: What happens when your dream dies? Where will you go and what will you do? This one-shot is based on "Killing him softly" written by TehDarkTemplar. AU.


**A/N:**

**This story is based on "Killing him softly", a one-shot written by TehDarkTemplar which I found to be quite ****beautiful** and moving. I recommend to read it before you go on with this story.

* * *

He was dying.

Death by suffocation.

A fitting death.

He was an assassin.

_They _were assassins.

And she was killing him softly.

…

As his eyes clouded, he spotted the door opening, a bright light flooding the room.

A feminine figure stood in the way.

Assuming it to be the maid he croaked out, "Go."

The figure glanced at his hand and gasped when it noticed the bottle in his grasp.

The figure advanced hastily, and began slapping his cheek, emitting shrill screams and cries.

He closed his eyes as it did so, willing himself to fall into an everlasting sleep...

But the voice... the feeling of those fingers... could it be?

He managed to pry his eyes open with the last of his strength, and caught sight of the emerald green eyes and red hair he so adored.

"Katarina", he breathed out, hardly daring to believe his eyes.

She was saying something, but he couldn't hear her or make out what she was saying. As he tried to understand what she was saying, he noticed tears starting to form in her eyes, her wonderful beautiful eyes.

His last thought was, _'__Katarina why are you crying?'_

* * *

Katarina tried to fight her tears as she waited for her sister to arrive.

'_What is taking her so long?' _she thought desperately as she held Talon in her arms. His pulse had almost completely faded.

_'Please don't die... Not now!'_

How had this happened? What happened for him to be dying in her arms?

The day had started out like every day in the recent weeks. Ever since she had accepted Garen's proposal she had been nervous, her nerves on the edge, cursing the fact that she had accepted to marry a man she did not really love, and the only person that her heart ever belonged to didn't even seem to care.

_'Or did he?'_

Sometimes she thought saw something in his eyes, at least she had wished to have seen something. After weeks of inner conflict she had finally decided to talk to him, not really holding out hope he might have changed his mind.

She cursed herself for being too proud to show him her pain, to try and resolve the conflict between them. Instead, she childishly resorted to acting cold towards him, ignoring him... for years...

But still, she had been unable to just accept her fate without even trying to resolve their feud. She had walked up to his room and entered, only to find him on the floor, slowly dying.

_'But why did he try to kill himself?'_

No answer came, she couldn't imagine one herself.

She looked up to the door. Where was Cassiopeia? She had told the servant to hurry and run for her sister. The man had immediately got under way, so why wasn't she here already?

Her clouded gaze wandered back to Talon's face. Despite the slaps in the face Katarina had administered him to keep him conscious; his face was pale and cold. She had cried his name and screamed for the servant, when she found him.

Talon had opened his eyes once and looked up, his eyes meeting hers. She had seen surprise... and deep sadness. He had whispered her name, "Katarina...".

Without thinking about it she has replied: "I love you, Talon." but he didn't seem to have understood it. New tears began to form in the corners of her eyes as she held his dying body in her arms, his heartbeat almost nonexistent now.

She was jolted out of her thoughts when Cassiopeia finally arrived, rushing into Talon's room, advancing towards her as fast as she could.

"What happened sssister? The servant told me that Talon wasss poisoned?!"

"Cassy, what took you so long? He is dying!" Katarina shouted towards her younger, half-snake sister.

Cassiopeia's eyes became narrower, but she grew tense as she saw Katarina's tearstained face.

"What happened to him?"

"He has poisoned himself with a bottle from my cupboard" she replied trembling. "Please, Cassy, tell me you can do something."

"Where isss that bottle?" Katarina pointed at the almost empty bottle with little remnants of its yellow-green contents. Cassiopeia picked it from the ground and analyzed its contents, taking a taste of them with her forked tongue. She recognized it immediately, but there was something strange about its taste...

"How long has it been in your cupboard?" Cassiopeia asked, turning around to her sister, silently preparing her next moves.

"For years, about four I guess," Katarina replied. "Why does that matter?"

Cassiopeia nodded resolute, seeing her expectation being confirmed.

"Then he ssstill has a chance. This poissson has become lessss deadly, but neverthelesss, it is still a wonder that he lives," Cassiopeia hissed, moving quickly to what was left of her family.

Without wasting another moment she bent over Talon and pressed her deadly fangs deep into his neck and then once again into his chest, close to his heart.

Katarina didn't make a single movement while she watched Cassiopeia and Talon in shock.

"What did you do?" she asked her sister with a streak of panic in her voice.

"I injected him my poissson. Knowing what poison is running through his veinsss I was able to modify my own so that it will work asss an antivenom."

"How did you..."

"I am half a sssnake remember?" Cassiopeia replied with a little smile. "It gives me unique abilities."

Her smile faded as fast as it appeared. "My poissson will fight the one he drank, but it has already sssspread throughout his body. I cannot do more, everything is up to him now."

After a moment of silence in which she had watched her sister shedding her tears on Talon, she added softly: "We should take him to hisss bed. Lying on the cold floor won't do him much good, even if you are holding him."

Katarina wiped away her tears, but soon new ones took their place.

"You are right, Cassy." she said.

After they had taken Talon onto his bed she whispered: "Thank you, Cassy."

"We are a family, and I won't let my brother die. But hold your thanks, he is still not out of danger," Cassiopeia responded with a sad smile.

She turned to leave her siblings alone, knowing that Katarina would want some time alone with him, and was about to disappear when she noticed a letter lying on the desk beside the doorway.

_Katarina DuCouteau _was written across the front of the paper in red ink.

With a little smile Cassiopeia said: "Kat, if you find yourself some time, you might be interested in reading the letter Talon left for you."

"What letter," Katarina asked, but Cassiopeia had already disappeared into the depths of the mansion by the time she turned around to face the now empty doorway.

Then she saw the envelope her sister had been talking about. She picked it up and stared at it... leaving it unopened. She took a chair that stood next to the desk and placed it next to the bed.

She dropped onto it, the envelope still in her hands and watched him...

_'Talon...'_

* * *

One day had passed and Talon still hadn't moved. His pulse became slightly stronger, giving Katarina bit of hope, but his situation was still precarious. She had told a servant that she didn't want to see anyone as long as she remained in Talon's room and had then locked the door.

Sorrow filled her heart; the knowledge of the fact that Talon's heart could stop beating at any time was painful, but the letter he had left for her made her even more nervous. She hadn't touched it since, but now, with nothing to do, her anxiety forced her to pick it up again, holding what were quite possibly the last words she would ever receive from him in her hands.

She looked down at the envelope in her hands and made a decision. Whatever this letter contained, Talon had written it for her to read, not for her to wonder about what it _might _contain. She took a deep breath and then sliced the envelope open with one of her smaller daggers.

The letter itself has been written with the same red ink he used to write her name on the envelope. With a last nervous glance on Talon's pale face she started to read:

_Dear Katarina,_

_You will never know the depth of my feelings for you as I won't be able to show them to you. By the time you read this I will be gone. Dead._

_I decided to end my pathetic existence, for I know that I have failed._

_I am so sorry Katarina. You cannot imagine the pain I have suffered since I denied you._

_You are right to hate me, I do it myself. My inability to understand my feelings for you until it was too late has been my ultimate failure. It is the only choice I have ever regretted._

_Ever since then a little bit of me died every moment I was watching you, loving you and knowing that I lost you. Every moment I saw you with him._

_All those years since our falling out, I cannot really express how much it hurts, how much pain I've been in since then. But I will do my best._

_I love you, I love your little quirks, I love your hair, I love your eyes._

_My love for you makes my life a living hell._

_I adore you, I adore your mannerisms, I adore your fiery temper, I adore your sarcastic comments._

_My adoration for you rips my heart apart._

_I revere you, I revere your company, I revere the ground you tread on, I revere every moment we spend together._

_My reverence for you haunts my every waking moment._

_I am captivated by you, I am captivated by your every move, I am captivated by your sleepy movements, I am captivated by your dance across the battlefield._

_My captivation for you crushes me._

_I dream of us being together, I dream of me proposing, I dream of us marrying, I dream of you giving birth to life, I dream of us raising our children together._

_But fate has caused you to look to someone else._

_It has caused you to accept another's proposal, it will cause you to marry him, it will cause you to bear his children, it will cause you to leave me behind, ever busy with your family._

_You are forever gone..._

_I am forever alone._

_I started out alone and I will die alone._

_But I will not allow someone to take your place._

_I cannot allow some to take your place._

_For there is no one else that can take your place._

_No one has the same hair, no one has the same eyes, no one has the same history._

_No one can reach the bar you have set._

_You will never know how much I love you._

_You will never know how much I adore you._

_You will never know how much I enjoy you._

_You will never know how much I am captivated by you._

_But I will forever and always, be yours, for you have been the center of my world for so long._

_You are happy with him, and I do not wish to intrude upon your relationship. Yet I cannot live with the knowledge that I have lost you, and I cannot destroy the last remaining piece of happiness you have. So, I will die. Farewell._

_Talon_

The letter left her breathless, as her eyes filled with tears again and her heart was being torn apart.

_'He loves me?'_

Talon had never shown any sign that he held any feelings for her; he had even rejected her.

She began to think of all the times she thought that she saw something in his eyes. Something that caused her heart to race. She had always called herself a delirious fool right after, saying that she was seeing things, things she wanted to be reality. His denial had hurt her badly and she became bitter over it, letting the wound fester. She started to behave coldly towards him, trying to not show him how much she actually cared, how deeply he had hurt her.

She could never get herself to hate him, even when she tried, quite the opposite in fact. She still loved him, she always had... Her inner conflict and confusion caused her to grow frustrated with herself, and she tried to drown her worries in her relationship with Garen. But it had only caused her to thirst more and more for Talon's company...

It was a never ending cycle of unsatisfactory interactions, burning pride, and constant frustration.

After she had read his letter and looked down at his pale face in the moonlight, a searing pain began to grow in her chest. She had mistreated him all those years and she had known that. With her pride and will she had just barely managed to live through it, but she never thought that he would...

She buried her face into his chest, sobbing desperately. She listened to his weak heartbeat.

_'Your heartbeat mustn't fade. I need it... I need you, Talon...'_

* * *

Darkness surrounded him.

He stood on a mirror**-**like surface, black as night; his reflection nothing more than a pale silhouette. The darkness welcomed him like a long lost friend, pulled at him softly, inviting him with silent whispers to close his eyes and let himself be carried away.

He couldn't say how long he had been here; time didn't seem to matter in this place. It could have very well been seconds as well as days.

_'So this is death' _he thought, looking in every direction. Or he would have if direction existed in this plane of existence.

He was alone... like he had always been.

_'No__'_ he told himself. _'__That's not true.'_

There were people that had mattered.

His master.

Cassiopeia.

Katarina...

They had given him something he had never experienced before, they have been his... family.

But Katarina hadn't just been part of his family, unlike Cassiopeia, who had always been a younger sister to him. She had been... she _was_ more, so much more.

_'What has happened?'_

He lived his life according to his mantra, 'Live and die by the blade'.

Back when he had lived in the slums, his blade was what kept him alive. It was respectable, honorable even, because he proved himself strong and had survived... but also cold.

_'Death by the blade...'_

It was the only death he would have accepted as a worthy one, being defeated by a person who was strong enough to do so...

That person had been Marcus DuCouteau, who defeated him, but had no intention of killing him. Instead he offered him the opportunity to live, to serve as his personal assassin... the opportunity to be a part of his family. The beginnings were not easy, due to the rivalry between him and Katarina, who's behavior enraged him first. His mantra never changed since then.

And yet he poisoned himself, breaking it...

_'No' _he thought.___'__I never broke it._

_I died by the blade, the deadliest I have ever come to know, the one I loved, driving it into my own heart._

_A sinister blade..._

_It has proven itself as the sharpest among them all.'_

Somehow he was amused as he was reminded of the title Katarina was given for her deadly skill and the fury with which she unleashed them upon her enemies...

Their first mission together had changed everything.

_'It all started back then'_ he thought. The love he had felt for her, that he still felt. However it was all lost to the cold when he had failed.

The darkness kept on whispering and pulling, now more demanding, more urgent. He ignored the feeling, still deep in his thoughts.

It was pointless to think of it, since he had already made his decision, made his peace...

_'Or have I?'_

No... No he didn't feel the peace he was supposed to feel. He had always thought that Katarina wouldn't miss him, maybe she would even be relieved when he was gone. He had left a letter for her, but its purpose was more to put his mind at rest, an attempt to undo the lie he lived for so long...

But what he felt instead was... anxiousness. Fear. Why did she cry? Why were the last things he saw in her emerald green eyes tears? He suddenly realized he didn't win his peace, his last thoughts were driving him mad.

_'Katarina, why were you crying?'_

No answer.

A sudden noise made him look up. It was the sound a drop made when colliding with the surface of water. He noticed small ripples which went through the ground he stood on, causing the pale silhouette of his reflection to become distorted. He realized that he stood on the surface of water, so deep that it seemed to be pitch black, it's bottom not able to be seen.

He watched another ripple and then another, new drops falling onto the lake of black water. At the same time the tugging of the darkness pulling at him became stronger.

He let out all his anger, all his self**-**hatred into the surrounding darkness through a roar. Still no answer.

_'I have failed again'_ he thought acrimoniously. _'__Is this death? An eternity of being reminded of all my failures?'_

He began to run, run from the whispering darkness that surrounded him, which began to swirl and pull at him with increasing intensity. Unwilling to accept his fate, he ran, ran towards the origin of the ripples, it's unsteady _drip-drop_ the only thing in this darkness he could run to. When he finally reached the place he stopped right in the center of the waves.

He looked up. Another drop fell down at him. He closed his eyes, just before the drop fell onto his face.

The first thing he noticed was a slight pain, rising and dropping with his heartbeat, centered around his chest.

He opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling of a room which was covered in darkness. Not the same darkness as before, but a more tangible darkness, akin to that of nighttime. It _was_ nighttime, moonlight drifted into the room through a window. Somehow, the ceiling looked familiar to him. As he gazed around, he realized that he was in his room. He continued to look about, momentarily confused.

He stopped when he noticed something else familiar. Katarina.

She sat on a chair next to the bed he was lying on, his bed he suddenly noticed. Her head, arms and her upper body were lying on his one, her face buried in his chest. Her closed eyes were red, tears coursed from the corners of her eyes and dropped on his chest. He remained silent, watching her as the moonlight shone down on her face.

"Katarina," he whispered softly, afraid that she might vanish, that he was dreaming. "Katarina, why are you crying?"

She opened her eyes and lifted her head as she heard his voice. For a long time she just looked at him, unable to say anything, looking directly at him, her wonderful emerald pools clouded with tears. She slowly moved her hand towards his cheek, disbelief and joy evident in her shocked features.

"Talon..."

She whispered his name, as new tears began to fill her eyes. With a small cry she wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder, sobbing as she constantly whispered his name. He held her tightly, smelling her scent, feeling her warm touch, something he had longed for ever since their falling out.

When their eyes met again, he suddenly wanted nothing more than to kiss her, telling her that he would let nothing ever harm her. He tried to get up into a sitting position, but she pushed him back down gently, with an almost motherly touch.

"Cassy did what she was able to do, but the poison dealt heavy damage to your body, so don't move too much," she said, with tears running down her face.

For a while she just sat there and watched him with her wonderful green eyes. He wasn't able to stand her stare and turned his head away, feeling something wet burning in the corners of his eyes.

He pondered about what to do next, searing thoughts and emotions running through his head and veins... coming to the same decision he already came to years ago.

"Talon, I..." Katarina started, but was interrupted by him, as he suddenly rose from his bed.

She jumped up from her chair in surprise and yelled: "No, Talon, don't! You are too weak!"

To her surprise he stood in front of her one moment later, lightly swaying, his hazel eyes staring directly into her own emeralds.

But only for a few moments.

He then fell forward as his legs yielded to his body. She looked down at him, shocked by the sight he offered. He didn't even try to stand up again. Instead he knelt in front of her, tears dropping from his cheeks to the ground. She had never seen him kneeling or crying before; not even when her father was around.

Not a single time in all those years she knew him.

"Katarina, I failed you when I denied you... I hurt you. Hate me if you want to, but know that I am sorry. Words cannot describe it, nor can they describe the self-hatred I've been living with since then. I cannot undo my mistakes, but I am willing to start over with you... Please, if you can, forgive me... Katarina," he said, his voice trembling.

Katarina, still in shock, slowly knelt down and took his face in between her hands, forcing him to meet her gaze.

"Talon..." she gasped, tears filling her eyes. "I am so sorry. Forgive _me_."

_'Why does she apologize? It was me who hurt her...'_

She took his hands in between hers.

"Talon... I... I have been cold to you, I have mistreated you all those years. I was too proud to show you how much you hurt me back then, and so I sought comfort in another's arms. But that is no excuse for the amount of pain I must have put you through. But hopefully you can take comfort in the fact that I never really felt comfortable with Garen."

Katarina tightened her grip on Talon's hands.

"Talon... Words cannot express how distressed I was with your attempted suicide. When I found out I... I..." Katarina paused, quick breathes being puffed into her hand, barren of her gloves. When she had fully recovered, she continued," I was broken, shattered. It _hurt_. I don't hate you, I never did... Talon, I love you."

His heart skipped a beat.

_'She... loves me? After all I have done to her, she still loves_ _me?'_

"Katarina..."

The tears in the corners of their eyes began to flow freely once again. She was still overwhelmed by the depth of his emotions for her... Until she read his letter, she had thought she was little more to him than an obstacle, another object to be used to amplify his own skill... She noticed with a sort of sad amusement how wrong she had been for all those years... how foolish she, no, both of them had been.

"I want you to understand me," he suddenly started. "I... I wasn't able to accept my feelings for you as love... I told myself so many times that I couldn't feel like that, that I had to fulfill my duty as your protector... It killed me, over and over again, with every word you spoke, every glance that fell on me, every moment I had to watch you with the knowledge that I lost you... When I finally understood my feelings for you, I was too late... You stood there with this _Demacian_, Garen, the one I saved you from...

And you smiled, smiled for the first time since I denied you, since my failure.

From that day everything that kept me alive was your father's command to protect you and Cassiopeia... So I remained in the mansion, fulfilling my duty as a protector by being your shadow, suffering every waking moment watching you, cursing myself, wishing I didn't fail, knowing all I ever wanted was to be in his place... And then you accepted his proposal, after he tried so many times... I knew it would happen, it was just a matter of time. I feared that day would come, the day you no longer needed me. When you accepted... I was no longer needed, no longer bound to something... There was nothing for me to live for, and I decided to end my pathetic existence."

His hands formed fists tightened, then he added: "I failed to understand what should have been clear from the beginning. I am so sorry..."

Katarina noticed that while it was a sort of relieving for him to tell her that, it was hard for him as well.

"Talon, we both failed. Our relationship was destroyed by both of us, more my fault than yours, but still. Just take to heart the fact that I love you. Know that I took your confession to heart," she said quietly, burying her tearstained face into his chest again. He began to stroke her head, caressing her crimson hair.

"I am so sorry for my mistakes and I forgive you. All I want is to be with you."

His heartbeat rose when he heard those words, causing the pain in his chest to rise as well, but he didn't care.

"I want to be with you too, more than anything else in this world... I love you."

A smile spread across her face.

As he comforted her, he thought of what the future might bring, but it didn't matter as long as they were together, nothing else mattered.

* * *

Garen stood in front of her, his face blank.

"I am sorry Garen, but I won't marry you," Katarina said, looking up to the much taller man. "I told myself it was my fate to marry you, since the future I've dreamt of seemed lost. I have recently... reacquired that dream, and it seems to be a very real possibility. I really appreciate your company and all that you have done for me the past five years, but I do not love you... I am sorry..."

Garen's face still showed no emotion and Talon drew a hidden dagger, ready to use it if the Demacian would do something unexpected. After a few minutes, to Talon's surprise, his unreadable expression broke and became soft and a shy smile.

"Deep inside I always knew we were not meant to be Katarina. You were somehow... distant and reserved all the time... and sad. I saw it in your eyes even when you tried not to show it. To be honest I wasn't wondering why you denied my proposals, I just hoped that you might change your mind if I kept on trying. I will let you go. To be frank I have been pressured into this marriage by the Demacian elites. It wasn't what I wanted, but it would have strengthened the bonds between Demacia and Noxus."

With a quick glance to Talon, who wasn't sure if he hadn't just imagined it, he added: "I am sure, whoever you chose to be happy with will prove himself worthy."

As Talon escorted Garen out of the DuCouteau mansion, latter suddenly paused and stood in the gateway, turning around to Talon and looking down at him.

"Care for her."

"I will." Talon replied and then after a moment he asked: "What will you do now?" He didn't really know why he asked him.

Garen's look went up to the stars. "I will move on. I am sure, one day, I will find the person who fits me perfectly. I believe that everybody does in the end, some of us earlier, some later." He let his look wander back to Talon.

"Let me give you a piece of advice: Whatever happens, if she has finally found who she wants to be with... Don't let them hurt her."

Talon remained silent, thinking of what the Demacian had just said to him. After a while he said quietly: "I will remember your words... Thank you, Garen Crownguard."

Garen smiled mischievously as he said: "Until our next meeting, Talon DuCouteau."

With those words, he turned around and left in the night. Talon stood there watching him disappear then turned around and went back inside, where a certain person was waiting for him.

* * *

He remained her shadow, constantly watching and protecting her, but only in public. Whenever they were alone they huddled together and exchanged words of affection.

For the first time in his life, he felt peace. Loving her and being loved by her was all his heart had ever longed for.

One week had passed, and he was fit and healthy again. He had been constantly training, and today was no exception. It had been a long day, their blades and bodies having already danced many an hour, when she suddenly made a quick movement he didn't expect. He found himself lying on the ground after she had pulled his legs from under him.

He stared up in her eyes, her wonderful emerald pools he loved so, as she pinned him down to the ground, her body lying on his. His hood has been fallen back when he fell, revealing his shoulder-length brown hair and his hazel eyes.

"I got you," she whispered tenderly, her face wearing a soft little smile as she looked down into his eyes. One of her hands was lying on his chest while the other searched for his. She closed her eyes, slowly moving her face down at his and softly pressed her lips against his.

He closed his eyes.

Nothing he ever experienced before was comparable...

Their first kiss...

When she released his lips, he used his free hand to hold back her hair which covered parts of her face in red waves. He looked her deep into her eyes and whispered: "I love you."

A pleasant shudder moved through her whole body as he spoke the words. Tears of joy began to form in her eyes and her smile grew a little wider. She lay her head on his chest, her eyes closed.

"Never leave me Talon."

"I will never leave you," he whispered into her ear, his free hand caressing her. "Never..."

This was where he belonged.

"My home is in your heart."


End file.
